Free Republic

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against Gov. Sarah Palin asked a judge Friday to declare that she broke state law two years ago when she failed to issue a proclamation for a celebration commemorating the freeing of U.S. slaves. Plaintiffs also sought a retroactive proclamation for the 2007 Juneteenth celebration from Palin, or — with her July 26 resignation looming — from the governor's office, said Gregory Charles Royal, a Washington, D.C., musician, who filed the suit in March. "You just can't ignore laws," he said. [...] Margaret Paton-Walsh, an assistant attorney general, said no deadline was...

A federal lawsuit was brought against Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin demanding retroactive issuance of the 2007 Juneteenth Proclamation and public restitution.

Two people were hospitalized after being shot Saturday afternoon at the Juneteenth celebration in Theodore Wirth Park. Mike Kinghorn, 23, was shot in the ankle and an unidentified female was shot in the leg. Neither person was expected to be in the hospital very long. The shooting happened just after 5:30 p.m.

Other than Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there are no federal holidays that celebrate the accomplishments and contributions Blacks have made to this country. But 29 states are now recognizing Juneteenth (June 19) as a day to celebrate the end of more than 200 years of slavery in America. Vermont, one of the whitest states in the country, just this month made Juneteenth an official state holiday, according to the Rutland Herald. Vermont's population is 96.7 percent white and 0.7 percent Black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. "Vermont prides itself on being one of the first states to abolish...

The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter has halted a program to promote the adoption of black cats and dogs the week of June 14-20 after criticism that the event would have taken place the week of Juneteenth, Director Cheryl Schneider said today. “We apologize if our promotion to reduce fees on black dogs and cats offended anyone,” Schneider said in a statement. The shelter, which is located in Georgetown, had planned to reduce adoption fees for black-coated animals to $25 through its “Black is Beautiful” promotion. The normal fee for adoption is $85, Williamson County spokeswoman Connie Watson said. “Based...

BERKELEY — After 21 years, Berkeley's Juneteenth celebration — the most established and consistent festival of its kind in the East Bay — has been cancelled by its organizers because they could not meet planning and safety deadlines, city officials said Monday.The Berkeley Juneteenth Association Inc. sent a letter to the city April 18, saying it had decided to scrap the festival, which generally draws 15,000 to 20,000 people to the Alcatraz/Adeline corridor in south Berkeley on Father's Day.News of the cancellation did not surface until this week, and there are conflicting stories as to why the festival fell apart."I...

  Senator Obama is one of key leaders in a campaign to make Juneteeth Day a National Holiday in the United States. Juneteeth Day occurs on every June 19th, the anniversary of General Granger announcing the emancipation of slaves in the South West. The Holiday would be celebrated on the third Friday in June. Here's what the NYT wrote about it on 2004: "Most gatherings are decidedly upbeat, but the sobering reason for the holiday has also been part of Juneteenth's growth. Dr. Ronald Myers, the leader of a movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday, says June 19 should...

Listen to the spin on Austin TV news: “City clears up confusion about beating death.” Confusion? Did I miss something? Was hard-working house painter and burger flipper David Rivas Morales not murdered in broad daylight during last week’s Austin Juneteenth celebrations? Listen to the spin that comes from people paid to project the image of a safe and happy city free of all racial hatred: “We apologize to the community” for the “confusion,” newly hired Austin police chief Art Acevedo announced as he and Austin’s city manager Toby Futrell blamed “national news coverage” for sensationalizing Morales’ murder. Apologize to the...

AUSTIN — Residents of a public housing complex on the east side where a man was brutally beaten to death said Friday the city is sanitizing tragic events that could portray the city in a bad light. "They don't want to arouse anything with the African-American community," said the victim's older sister, Elizabeth Morales, 45. City officials took great pains on Thursday to refute any link they made earlier between the killing of David Morales, 40, and a nearby Juneteenth celebration attended by 3,000. Police have said Morales was beaten to death Tuesday night in the public housing complex's parking...

Police and organizers of Juneteenth events in two cities went out of their way Thursday to insist that attacks against drivers — one of which left an Austin, Texas, man dead — have nothing to do with the crowds attending the celebrations. But in both cases, electronic evidence raises questions about how the crimes were being characterized by officials.Go to link for the rest of the article.

June 22, 2007, 12:04AM Police change accounts in Austin beating probe Authorities say the killing was done by 3 or 4, not a mob By POLLY ROSS HUGHES Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau Fatal beating in Austin AUSTIN — Strained race relations between police and minorities on Austin's east side, fueled by ongoing controversies over excessive use of force, could stymie efforts to solve the beating death of a Hispanic man this week, a civil rights attorney said Thursday. Conflicting official versions of events by city police and other officials only seemed to make things worse, said Jim Harrington...

MILWAUKEE - Pat Kasthurirangaian said he doesn't know the people who pulled him from his car and brutally beat him. He doesn't know why they did it. He has some serious injuries after a senseless beating that took place as people left Tuesday's Juneteenth celebration. Kasthurirangaian spoke exclusively to TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Michael George. "They broke my nose, they busted my lip in many places and I have a fractured eye socket," Kasthurirangaian said. ...

Police were searching Wednesday for more than a dozen people who may have been involved in the beating death of a man who was a passenger in a car that struck and injured a child not far from a Juneteenth celebration in Austin, Texas. David Rivas Morales died Tuesday from injuries sustained in an assault by an unknown number of black men following the car accident, which occurred in the parking lot of an East Austin apartment complex, police said. "It doesn't seem to be a hate crime, it really seems to be a spontaneous act resulting from that collision...

(CBS 42) AUSTIN Austin police are looking for a group of men they say were involved in a mob beating that killed a man. Police say David Rivas Morales, 40, died after as many as 20 men beat him outside the Booker T. Washington apartment complex (map). Detectives say the crime was unlike anything they have ever seen, a flagrant act of mob violence, that happened just outside his sister's front door. Margaret Morales can't understand why a mob would beat her brother dead. “He was just the kind of person who would help anybody out if they needed help,”...

Innocent Motorists Attacked After Juneteenth MILWAUKEE - A handful of violent incidents tarnished Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration for the second year in a row. The festival itself was peaceful, but police in riot gear had to deal with several incidents after the event. A large group of teens walked east on W. Burleigh St., jumping on unsuspecting drivers' cars and kicking in windows on at least two vehicles. In one incident, a crowd surrounded a black car stuck in traffic at 2nd and Burleigh. A couple of teens jumped on top of the car. One smashed out the rear windshield. The...

Vehicle's passenger was beaten to death by several men, police say. AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF A group of men fatally beat a passenger in a car that police said accidentally struck a child outside an East Austin apartment complex, police said today. As many as 3,000 people were in the area following a Juneteenth celebration at the time, officials said. Austin police Cmdr. Harold Piatt estimated that dozens were in the parking lot of the Booker T. Washington apartment complex at the time and that preliminary information shows no witnesses apparently tried to prevent or stop the attack. "At this point, we...

Syracuse's Juneteenth celebration was ordered shut down by police three hours early after fights broke out among youths at the event. Deputy Police Chief Frank Fowler made the decision to shut down the Clinton Square festival about 8 p.m. after fights broke out and hundreds of youths surged through the streets surrounding the square. Two people were stabbed near the square and there was an unconfirmed report of shots fired, Sgt. Tom Connellan, speaking for the Syracuse police, said.

Milwaukee Police say a 33-year-old man has a broken tooth and cuts all over his face after a group of teenagers pulled him from his car and beat him following Milwaukee's Juneteenth celebration. It happened after the festival ended in the 3000 block of north 1st Street which is a short distance from the actual festival. Police say hundreds of teenagers started kicking the man's car. Today's TMJ 4 video from the scene shows the teenagers damaging at least several cars. The man who was pulled from his car was treated and released from a local hospital. Meanwhile, a few...

June 20, 2007, 12:30PM Angry crowd kills man riding in car that struck child By LIZ AUSTIN PETERSON Associated Press AUSTIN — A crowd attacked and killed a passenger in a vehicle that had struck and injured a child, police said today. The man who was killed Tuesday night had been trying to stop the group from attacking the vehicle's driver when the crowd turned on him, authorities said. The Austin Police Department identified the victim as David Rivas Morales, 40, of Austin. The child was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The beating began after the car...

The city's Juneteenth festivities were marred by violence Tuesday, after a man was pulled from his car and beaten and a police officer injured while trying to break up a large-scale fight after the festival let out. It was the second year in a row that police in riot gear were used to disperse the crowds.While the event was largely peaceful and calm during the day, spurts of chaos ensued as police in riot gear attempted to disperse large groups of rowdy festival goers who ignored orders to leave, said Anne E. Schwartz, Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman. "During the day...

A crowd attacked and killed a passenger in a vehicle that had struck and injured a child, police said Wednesday. Police believe 2,000 to 3,000 people were in the area for a Juneteenth celebration when the attack occurred Tuesday night. The man who was killed had been trying to stop the group from attacking the vehicle's driver when the crowd turned on him, authorities said. The Austin Police Department identified the victim as David Rivas Morales, 40. The child was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police spokeswoman Toni Chovonetz said she had no further information, including how...

Learn about Kwanzaa, it's worth celebrating By Akilah Monifa COMMENTARY I CELEBRATE Kwanzaa, a holiday that honors family, community and culture. My family and I have done so for years. But five years after Sept. 11, in this climate of religious and cultural intolerance in America, I can sympathize with Muslims here who feel like outsiders. Many white Americans are suspicious and fearful of Kwanzaa. Like other holidays that are celebrated predominantly by people of color -- such as Ramadan, Juneteenth, Holi, Hispanic Heritage Month -- Kwanzaa ought to be an opportunity for those who are unfamiliar with it to...

Today, Americans celebrate "Juneteenth" - when in 1865 slavery finally ended throughout the entire United States. Sadly, few people know that Juneteenth was a high water mark for African- Americans. Soon after that great day, the Democratic Party defeated the Reconstruction policies of the Republican Party, postponing the civil rights movement until the 1950s.An important fact which most history books ignore is that Abraham Lincoln's 1864 running mate was a Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. And so after Lincoln's assassination, it was a Democrat who would be President of the United States for the first four years after the Civil...

Today, Americans celebrate “Juneteenth” – when in 1865 slavery finally ended throughout the entire United States. Sadly, few people know that Juneteenth was a high water mark for African- Americans. Soon after that great day, the Democratic Party defeated the Reconstruction policies of the Republican Party, postponing the civil rights movement until the 1950s. An important fact which most history books ignore is that Abraham Lincoln’s 1864 running mate was a Democrat, Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. And so after Lincoln’s assassination, it was a Democrat who would be President of the United States for the first four years after the...

A few spoil the fun for many when Juneteenth is cut short A lively and promising start to Omaha's Juneteenth celebration was abruptly snuffed out Saturday after at least two altercations caused concern among organizers. The Juneteenth Parade, which began at 10 a.m. at 24th and Hamilton Streets and ended near the Metropolitan Community College Fort Omaha campus, came off without a hitch. Approximately 500 people lined the parade route, cheering on floats, bands and drill teams. Many followed the parade to the campus, where organizers were preparing for a day of music and other activities. Milita Hill, executive director...

(Dads and families are plentiful at annual Juneteenth festival!) The problem of absentee fathers in the black community has been a hot topic. The issue helped fuel the creation of the Million Man March, which brought hundreds of thousands of black men to Washington, D.C., in 1995. It will be tackled again at the 10-year commemoration of the march this fall. While fatherless families remain, you wouldn't have guessed it at Sunday's Juneteenth festival in Milwaukee, an annual celebration of the end of slavery that happened to fall on Father's Day this year. The festival, which stretched along N. King...

WASHINGTON - As an African American, Richard Bingham has always felt some ambivalence about the Fourth of July. So when he learned six years ago about Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when the last U.S. slaves were notified of their independence, he hosted a party to share food, fellowship and history with his neighbors in Prince George's County. He's repeated it each year since. They grilled meat, a tradition started in Texas, where Juneteenth originated. ... The anniversary, traditionally celebrated on the third Saturday of the month, is now observed formally in 17 states, and several others have...

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today said the Juneteenth holiday that will be celebrated Sunday, June 19 both in Galveston, Texas, and across the country marks a celebration for all men in all times. "Juneteenth is not merely a celebration for African-Americans, or for Texans – it is a celebration for all men in all times," DeLay said. "It should be a celebration of humanity itself, and of the human race's universal yearning to be free." The last of the four million slaves were freed 140 years ago Sunday, June 19, 1865, when Major General Granger of the United...

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level...

Juneteenth is to the black community what St. Patricks Day is to the Irish and Cinco De Mayo is to the Hispanics.It celebrates the day that slaves in Galveston learned that they had been freed two years earlier.It's an official state holidfay in several states, including New Jersey, There will be local celebrations at churches, community centers, parks, etc...all over the country as well as about a dozen foreign countries; California ,South Carolina ...Check you local newspaper or call a church to find out where your voters will be celebrating. If tickets or required or plate dinners are sold, buy...

"Rewarding Murder" Posted by Doc Farmer Saturday, July 19, 2003 About 20 years ago, there was a vicious triple murder in my hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. A man, his wife, and their 11-year-old son were brutally bludgeoned to death one weekend in their own home. When the man didn’t arrive at work on Monday morning, his co-workers got worried, went to his home, and found the bodies. And they found wandering among the corpses the only survivor--a toddler, barely two years old. The little girl had been alone for two days with her murdered family. The police investigated, the...

Smokers stock up before getting smoked on taxes By Ilene Olson Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE – Smokers lined up at stores Monday in a last-ditch effort to buy cigarettes before they have to pay a 48-cent tax on each pack they buy. “We’re extremely busy today with people stocking up before the increase,” said Jerry Reinholtz, district manager for Smoker Friendly stores. The cigarette tax is one of several new laws that go into effect today after passing the 2003 Legislature and being signed into statute by Gov. Dave Freudenthal. Other laws effective today include: • A measure...

Commission keeping Juneteenth historically alive Panel plans Capitol statue as one way to mark defining moment06/19/2003 By KIMBERLY DURNAN / Dallas Web Staff Nearly 140 years later, Texans are still trying to spread the word about the emancipation. Although President Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed freedom for slaves Sept. 22, 1862, Texas was the last state to officially get the news, when Gen. Gordon Granger read the proclamation in Galveston on June 19, 1865. To highlight the significance of the day known as Juneteenth, a combination of the words "June" and "19th," the Legislature created the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Cultural &...